


Total Eclipse of the Heart

by asofthesea



Series: Alphabet Prompts [5]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:42:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26508418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asofthesea/pseuds/asofthesea
Summary: She gets lost in her book, so she doesn’t notice the other person enter the room until the fire spreads and creates a circle around her.“Shit!” Josie says as she stands and looks up to face Penelope, a smirk on her face, “What the hell?”“Watch your language, I just wanted to have a chat,” Penelope says.Josie rolls her eyes, “You didn’t have to encapture me in fire, you could have just sat down beside me like a normal person!”ORAn AU in which Josie and Penelope have been enemies for years, although there are feelings other than disdain towards each other, they both have trouble coming to terms with it.E: Enemies (to friends to lovers)
Relationships: Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Series: Alphabet Prompts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1702177
Comments: 7
Kudos: 78





	Total Eclipse of the Heart

“Lookout, here comes the Witch Bitch,” Hope leans over and whispers into Josie’s ear.

Josie straightens up a bit, but doesn’t look up from her textbook even though she knows that Penelope Park and her group is standing right in front of their table.”

“Anything I can help you with?” Josie asks.

Penelope’s hands slip into Josie’s view as they settle on the table. Josie can’t help but look up at the girl across from her, staring daggers into her.

“Just wondering if there was any way you were planning on ruining my life today, or if that was next week?” The girl snides at Josie.

Josie rolls her eyes, “You’re safe, for now…”

Penelope stares at Josie for a long moment before she stands back up and beckons her groupies to follow her as she walks away.

“That was incredibly tense,” Hope says, “Remind me again why you two hate each other.”

“I have no idea.”

The thing about being enemies with Penelope Park, was that you had practically committed social suicide. That’s why Josie’s only friend at the Salvatore School was Hope. Hope didn’t want to be a part of any group, which was why when Josie was excluded from the other witches, Hope took her under her wing.

Most of their Friday nights were spent in each other’s company. Except for this Friday, Hope was away fighting monsters with her dad, which left Josie all by herself. Josie is fine by herself most of the time, but right now she misses her parents and sister more than anything. Her mom had taken Lizzie to a different school after it became apparent that Lizzie wasn’t a good fit with the Salvatore School. Everything used to set her off, but she was getting better at a witch-only school.

Josie goes down to sit in the common area and read by the fire, a nice activity to relax her before bed most nights.

She gets lost in her book, so she doesn’t notice the other person enter the room until the fire spreads and creates a circle around her.

“Shit!” Josie says as she stands and looks up to face Penelope, a smirk on her face, “What the hell?”

“Watch your language, I just wanted to have a chat,” Penelope says.

Josie rolls her eyes, “You didn’t have to encapture me in fire, you could have just sat down beside me like a normal person!”

“Well, this way you can’t run off.”

Josie crosses her arms, “And why would I do that?”

“Because we need to talk,” Penelope says, holding Josie’s gaze.

“About what?”

Penelope sighs, “I think it’s been long enough that you’ll never say sorry for what you did to me, but we can still put this rivalry behind us. All you have to do is admit that it was all your fault.”

“My fault?” Josie asks, completely blindsided, “You are the one who was mean to me. We used to get along until you started treating me like crap!”

Penelope shakes her head as her hand comes up to clutch her necklace, “I thought you would at least admit what you did, but obviously not. I was willing to put this bad blood behind us, but you haven’t changed one bit.”

Josie watches in silence as Penelope leaves, utterly confused as to what she was referring to. She racks her brain, but doesn’t come up with anything that she could have done to make Penelope hate her this much.

“-and then I had to bury her body,” Hope says as she recounts the story of the dragon.

“That sucks,” Josie says.

“Where’s your head at, Jo?” Hope asks, scrutinizing her, trying to figure out what’s wrong with her best friend.

“Something happened while you were gone,” Josie admits, “Penelope confronted me.”

Hope’s face turns to fury, “Of course that bitch just had to wait until I was out of the school to come for you. That’s so low, even for her.”

Josie shakes her head, “It wasn’t really like that. It was confusing. She said that she wants me to admit what I did to her that started this whole feud, but I have no idea what she even means!”

“What _you_ did to _her?_ She should apologize for what _she_ did to _you!_ ” Hope says, with a glint of yellow in her eyes that she only gets when she’s very angry.

Josie suggests, “Maybe you should go wolf out.”

Hope nods, “I’m going to go do that, but when I get back we are talking about this more.”

“Great,” Josie says, sitting back in her chair as she watches her friend go.

After Hope got done releasing her pent up anger by wolfing out in the woods, she fully intends to talk more to Josie about what happened. As she heads to her friend’s room, she runs into Penelope in the hallway.

She may have just wolfed out, but she can feel her anger returning at the sight of the She-Witch.

“We need to talk, Penelope,” Hope says, standing in front of the witch. She crosses her arms to let Penelope know that she will not be leaving until they have this conversation.

Penelope smirks, “Now? You smell like a wet dog, Mikaelson.”

Hope rolls her eyes, “Yes, now. I need to know why you thought it was okay to corner Josie and accuse her of something she didn’t do.”

Penelope’s eyebrows draw together briefly before her face returns to its neutral expression, “This is between me and the siphoner, so stay out of it Mikaelson.”

“Don’t call her that, you know what other witches think of siphoners,” Hope defends.

“What? That they suck the magic out of other witches? That they’re a stain on our covens? Because it’s all true. I used to think it wasn’t, but after what Josie did, there’s no way I could ever trust her or another siphoner again.”

Hope shifts to her other foot, “And what exactly is it that Josie did that made you so mad? What could she have done to inspire years of hatred?”

“Ask her yourself,” Penelope responds as she begins to sidestep Hope.

Hope matches her step and says, “I have asked her what happened between you two, and she seems genuinely stumped. I don’t think she was lying when she said she didn’t know. Just tell me.”

Penelope rolls her eyes, “When we were younger, I let Josie borrow my necklace because I liked her. She didn’t know that it had some of my dad’s magic left in it for me. It was the last thing I had from him before he died, when I wore it, I could feel him with me. When I got my necklace back all the magic was gone, and I couldn’t feel him anymore. She never even apologized. Now all I have from my dad is some hunk of metal.”

This time, when Penelope sidesteps, Hope lets her go. She uncrosses her arms and runs her hands through her hair. She had believed Josie when she said she didn’t tell her, but she also believes Penelope. She’s never seen the Witch Bitch so upset.

She needs to talk to Josie.

Josie looks up as she hears the door open and smiles as Hope walks in.

“Feeling better now?” She asks.

Hope takes a moment before she responds, “Well, I’m not as angry anymore, but I am confused.” Hope sits on the foot of Josie’s bed and says, “You’re sure that you have no idea why Penelope hates you?”

“Of course I don’t know. We used to be best friends then she just started hating me. I don’t really remember everything that went down around that time though, that’s when Lizzie started getting really bad and had to transfer schools. I told you earlier that I didn’t know, why are you asking me again?” Josie asks as she sits up and studies her best friend who is looking conflicted.

“I talked to Penelope,” Hope starts, “I didn’t even mean to, I just saw her in the hallway as I was coming to find you. Apparently she lent you a necklace that was a gift from her dad. It had his magic in it and when she got it back, it had been siphoned out. It was the last thing she had from her dad, or so she said.”

Josie can tell Hope is studying her, waiting for her reaction, but Josie doesn’t remember ever siphoning from a necklace, but it would explain why Penelope hated her if she thought she did. If anybody destroyed the picture she had of her biological mom, she’d be pissed.

“Did you?” Hope asks after a moment of silence.

Josie stands, “No, I don’t think so. I wore the necklace all the time I had it. Penelope gave it to me because she said it helped calm her and I was so stressed with everything going on with- oh no.” Josie buries her head in her hands as she realizes what happens.

“What? What is it?” Hope asks, standing and pulling Josie’s hands away from her face.

“I need to talk to Penelope,” Josie says as she leaves the room, leaving a stunned and confused Hope Mikaelson in her wake.

“Didn’t peg you to hang out in the library,” Josie says as she walks up to the chair Penelope’s sat in, reading a book.

“How’d you know I was here?” Penelope asks, not bringing her eyes up from her book.

“Your roommate told me, I came here to talk,” Josie sits down in the chair next to Penelope.

“You’ve had six years to talk and you wanna do that now?” Penelope questions as she finally looks over to Josie, arching an eyebrow, “Why now?”

Josie sighs, “Hope told me why you hate me, and that’s fair, but it isn’t what happened.”

Penelope closes her book calmly and asks, “Oh yeah, then what did happen? I gave you the necklace with the magic in it, and when I got it back it had none in it. I know you siphoned it, Josie, don’t try to lie to me.”

Josie shakes her head, “But that isn’t what happened, I didn’t siphon it!”

“Oh yeah, then who did? You are the only siphon witch at this school!” Penelope retorts.

“Shh!” The librarian says to them as she walks by.

Josie lowers her voice as she explains, “Lizzie had just left for a witch-only school. She was hating it there and wanted to come back. When she came back to visit one weekend, we were cuddling and she must have accidentally siphoned it because she was freaking out and started a fire. I know she had no intention of doing it, and I swear I had no idea where she got the magic from, but I’m sorry. That necklace was yours and it was important to you, I should have taken better care of it.”

Penelope stands up and says, “I may believe you, but that doesn’t mean you’re forgiven or we’re friends or whatever. Just stay away from me, Josie.”

Josie does just that. She avoids Penelope like she’s got Covid. While there are no more confrontations between them, they are far from friends. There seems to be an understanding between them to leave the other alone.

Despite that, Josie does want to fix things with Penelope without hurting her more.

“Okay class, today we’ll be practicing a simple healing spell, so partner up. One of you will make a small cut on your skin while the other will repeat the incantation to heal it.”

Josie looks around, but everybody has partnered up already. She moves to stand to go partner with the teacher as she always has to do when there’s an odd number of students.

The doors to the classroom burst open with a, “Sorry Professor, but I’m running late today.”

The teacher waves his hand dismissively, “No problem, we were just about to practice a simple healing spell. I believe Ms. Saltzman still needs a partner. I’m sure she’d be more than happy to catch you up to speed.”

_Yes she would,_ Josie thinks as she meets Penelope’s gaze. She can tell she’s considering turning right around before she comes to a different conclusion and sits next to Josie saying, “Let's just get this over with.”

Josie hands the paper over to Penelope as she takes the knife the professor handed out and makes a small cut on her palm. She holds her hand out to Penelope who takes her palm in her hands and says the incantation. They both watch as the wound slowly closes.

The professor says, “It is okay to not get it on the first try, or at all. Healing spells are very difficult and take some years of practice. That’s why it’s best to focus on the small ones and work our way up.”

Penelope leans to take the knife, but Josie puts her hand on top of Penelope’s to stop her, explaining, “I don’t have enough magic right now to do this spell, don’t even bother cutting your hand.”

Penelope says, “Well, you need to practice the spell, who knows when this could come in handy.” Josie shrugs and Penelope looks contemplative for a second before saying, “Well find something to siphon later and meet me at the field later. We can practice while I get to watch the Lacrosse team.”

Josie asks, “Are you sure?”

“It’s only fair,” Penelope says before standing up, Josie hadn’t even noticed the class had dismissed. She looks around to find they must have been the last ones in the class. She hurriedly packs her things and heads to her next class.

“Hey,” is all Josie can say as she walks up the bleachers and sits down next to Penelope.

“You ready?” Penelope asks.

Josie nods and hands her pocket knife over to Penelope who makes a small cut on her hand. Josie takes Penelope’s hand in hers and says the incantation. She looks down at the cut to see that nothing has changed. She closes her eyes for more focus and repeats the incantation.

The cut still isn’t healing so Josie says, “Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Penelope says, “It’s a complicated spell and can take some time. Just really concentrate. We can go somewhere else if that’d be easier.”

Josie shakes her head. She _is_ having trouble concentrating, but it has nothing to do with the practice going on and everything to do with the way her stomach flips as she holds Penelope’s hand in hers. She pushes even those thoughts away as she closes her eyes and focuses on the cut on Penelope’s hands. As she repeats the incantation again, she visualizes the cut healing itself. When she opens her eyes, that’s exactly what it did.

Penelope smiles, “I knew you could do it, you’re more powerful than you think.”

Josie blushes and says, “Thank you, and thanks for meeting me outside of class, you really didn’t have to.”

Penelope shrugs, “I was thinking it over, and I may have been just a touch too harsh to you, especially after I found out the truth. I shouldn’t have avoided you, or I should have just asked you sooner because that doesn’t seem like something you would have done.”

They share a smile and Josie asks, “Wanna go get a milkshake?”

Penelope stiffens and replies, “Not just yet, maybe later though.”

Josie tries to not let the disappointment show on her face as she nods with a small smile. While they cleared up what initially caused their feud, there are still years of mistrust and nasty words traded to get over. It will take time, but it’s time Josie’s willing to put in.

When the gargoyle invades the school, it’s like they were caught with their pants down. Josie had always thought of the school as a safe place, sheltered from the outside world. Being scratched by the gargoyle had left her paralyzed on the floor, her screams for help coming out as nothing more than moans. She had trapped the monster on school grounds, but she couldn’t do anything else that she knew of to stop it.

She had sent Pedro to go get help, she can only hope that someone will find her soon. Once the gargoyle finds whatever it wants, it will come back to finish her off. Josie sees a movement out of the corner of her eyes, but she can’t make out the figure, her eyes unfocused and unable to move.

The person kneels beside her and whispers frantically, “Josie? What happened?”

Josie instantly recognizes the voice as Penelope’s, and she wants to reassure her friend that she’s okay, but nothing comes out but a small hum.

Penelope shakes Josie’s shoulder as her voice rises, “Josie? You need to wake up, okay? Just wake up, Josie!” The shaking gets more frantic as Penelope continues, “You can’t be dead, Josie. There’s so much I have to tell you, so many things I want to do with you. I need you to be okay!”

Something wet hits Josie’s face and she hears a sharp inhale from Penelope. She realizes that her friend is crying, not sure if Josie’s okay or not. Josie desperately wants to reassure her, but she can’t so much as twitch her hand.

Josie hears more footsteps and voices approach, and it’s too much to take in when she can barely focus. She musters all of her energy in focusing on Penelope holding her hand, not realizing when that happened. Josie thinks she is moved, but she can’t feel anything except Penelope’s hand in hers.

Eventually, that fades out, too.

Silence meets Josie as she regains consciousness. Her eyes slowly flutter open and she sees that she’s in her room, on her bed. On her left, she sees Penelope sitting in a chair by her bed, looking at Josie with a huge smile on her face, still holding Josie’s hand.

“What happened?” Josie asks, sitting up.

Penelope helps her adjust as she answers, “Well a gargoyle came to the school to get some sort of relic, I don’t know, but long story short, you did a spell to trap it and it paralyzed you. Don’t worry, because you’re all better now.”

Josie nods because that sounds about right, but that’s not what’s on her mind right now, “When I was paralyzed, I was aware of my surroundings for a bit. You found me first, and you said some things…” Josie trails off, not exactly sure where she was going with this.

“Like what?” Penelope asks without a hint of irritation.

“Well, something along the lines of ‘there are things I want to do with you and things I want to talk about with you,’” Josie says as she tries to remember.

Penelope sighs and drops Josie’s hand saying, “I want to hang out with you more. I know I’ve been a little closed off, but finding you on the floor, not being sure if you were okay, made me realize that all the stuff in the past doesn’t matter to me anymore. I just want to be with you.”

“Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

Penelope looks away as she says, “Not all of it, no,” she takes a deep breath before continuing, “I wanted to tell you that I liked you. I wanted to ask you on a date.” Penelope’s gaze finds its way back to Josie’s, waiting to gauge her reaction.

She can’t help the smile that comes to her face as she says, “Yes.”

Penelope’s brows furrow as she questions, “Yes, what?”

“Yes, I’d love to go on a date with you,” Josie responds as she leans in towards Penelope and captures her lips with her own. Penelope returns her kiss after a moment of shock before they pull apart a few moments later.

Josie’s smile only grows in size as she says, “I’ve been wanting to do that for years. I never thought you’d feel the same way that I do.”

“Ditto,” Penelope responds as she pulls Josie in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey sorry that it's been a while since I've updated this series, I've just been super busy getting ready for college, moving in, and these first few weeks here. Inspiration struck me tonight so I finished this story and got it posted as soon as I could! I have no intention of abandoning this series, but it may be a little time before updates. I'm sorry I have no schedule!
> 
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought by commenting and leaving kudos!


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